Press Release – 19 April 2016
Since the water treatment plant was built at Woodside in 2000 to service both Greytown and Featherston; there have been a number of challenges which the South Wairarapa District Council (SWDC) has had to manage.
The main issue is the inability of the plant to process suitable drinking water if the Waiohine River remained in flood for an extended period of time, the water being too dirty to process.
In 2011 seed funding was provided by the Ministry of Health ‘drinking-water subsidy programme’ to investigate a groundwater source for the existing supply.
SWDC made another subsidy application to the Ministry of Health in 2013 for funding to install two further bores, a raw water main from the three bores to the treatment plant, ultra violet reactors, instrumentation for the bores and Ultra Violet and further treated water storage. A subsidy of $617,500 was provided for all of the above except the treated water storage.
Further subsidy of $50,000 was made available in April 2015 making a total available subsidy to the SWDC of $667,500.
Once the subsidy was granted another two bores were drilled and proven to be fit for purpose. The bore-field design began and Stage one of the project was developed and a tender was let to Ordish and Stevens Ltd of Masterton for the installation of the pumping, control and pipeline works, this began in September 2015 and is expected to be completed by May 2016.
Stage two of the project will go to tender in June 2016, for the new ultra violet treatment for the disinfection of the water and is expected to be complete by Christmas 2016.
SWDC CEO, Paul Crimp says the project has great benefits for the district.
“We’ll have a better quality source water not requiring filtration and as a result lower production costs. This is because the existing filters normally will not need to be used and there is little water lost during the new treatment process”.
“We will be able to comply with the current New Zealand Drinking Water Standards and have better security of supply for both Featherston and Greytown by having both the bore-field and the front line source and the river take available as the reserve supply”.
For more information contact enquiries@swdc.govt.nz or 06 306 9611.
Background:
South Wairarapa District Council’s mission is to work with and for the South Wairarapa communities to affect the best possible social and economic outcomes which are based on valuing and respecting the people, the land and the resources.
The South Wairarapa District Council is one of three local authorities operating in the Wairarapa. South Wairarapa follows the coastline from the western end of Palliser Bay to Honeycomb Rock east of Martinborough. The western boundary follows the main divide of the Rimutaka and Tararua Ranges to Mount Hector, from which the boundary runs south east across the Wairarapa plain to the coast.
